US responsible behavior urged in nuclear accord

If pact signed, parties must ensure no repeat of Washington exit, experts say

As Iran and other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal inch closer to reviving the agreement the US ditched in 2018, all signatories should help ensure the economic and political guarantees underpinning a resurrected deal to avoid letting Washington repeat its irresponsible behavior, experts say.

Seyed Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a senior Iran affairs analyst, said that given the effects the Ukraine-Russia conflict has had on the world economy, Europe and the United States "cannot tolerate the economic, political and security impact" of defying the Iranian demands in the midst of rising energy prices.

"They (the US) withdrew from the JCPOA irresponsibly," said Khoshcheshm, referring to the formal name of the agreement. "Iran stood under the deal for 14 months after the US left and the Europeans promised they wanted to make up for the US' lost part, but they never did that," said the scholar, who also taught at the Faculty of International Relations of the Iranian Foreign Ministry and is editor-in-chief of Iran's Fars News Agency.